All that day Karl saw nothing of Lilith; but he heard her voice
once--and that was enough for one day. The next, she was sitting to her
father the greater part of the day, and he could see her as often as he
dared glance up from his drawing. She had looked at him when she
entered, but had shown no sign of recognition; and all day long she took
no further notice of him. He hoped, at first, that this came of the
intelligence of love; but he soon began to doubt it. For he saw that,
with the holy shadow of sorrow, all that distinguished the expression of
her countenance from that which the painter so constantly reproduced,
had vanished likewise. It was the very face of the unheeding angel whom,
as often as he lifted his eyes higher than hers, he saw on the wall
above her, playing on a psaltery in the smoke of the torment ascending
for ever from burning Babylon.--The power of the painter had not merely
wrought for the representation of the woman of his imagination; it had
had scope as well in realising her.
Karl soon began to see that communication, other than of the eyes, was
all but hopeless; and to any attempt in that way she seemed altogether
indisposed to respond. Nor if she had wished it, would it have been
safe; for as often as he glanced towards her, instead of hers, he met
the blue eyes of the painter gleaming upon him like winter lightning.
His tones, his gestures, his words, seemed kind: his glance and his
smile refused to be disguised.
The first day he dined alone in the studio, waited upon by an old woman;
the next he was admitted to the family table, with Teufelsbürst and
Lilith. The room offered a strange contrast to the study. As far as
handicraft, directed by a sumptuous taste, could construct a
house-paradise, this was one. But it seemed rather a paradise of demons;
for the walls were covered with Teufelsbürst’s paintings. During the
dinner, Lilith’s gaze scarcely met that of Wolkenlicht; and once or
twice, when their eyes did meet, her glance was so perfectly
unconcerned, that Karl wished he might look at her for ever without the
fear of her looking at him again. She seemed like one whose love had
rushed out glowing with seraphic fire, to be frozen to death in a more
than wintry cold: she now walked lonely without her love. In the
evenings, he was expected to continue his drawing by lamplight; and at
night he was conducted by Teufelsbürst to his chamber. Not once did he
allow him to proceed thither alone, and not once did he leave him there
without locking and bolting the door on the outside. But he felt nothing
except the coldness of Lilith.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account